


Stormcave

by Samuraiter



Category: Final Fantasy X
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 11:09:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4623099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samuraiter/pseuds/Samuraiter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a private moment on the Thunder Plains, Yuna asks Auron about a truth she has long suspected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stormcave

**Author's Note:**

  * For [godsbow_lithium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/godsbow_lithium/gifts).



> Consent is a little dubious here, and Yuna skirts the edges of being underage, since this is the first game, so I am choosing not to use archive warnings on account of the (slight) gray areas.

_Rain_. From time to time, it interrupted the gloom of the Thunder Plains, becoming a background to the flashing and booming. In the cave, it seemed to be the only noise, soft and unassuming. And yet, to Yuna, the tension in the air seemed equally as heavy as if a bolt of lightning could come down at any instant. Auron sat across from her in the dimness, his face impassive, but she thought she could see anger uncoiling beneath the surface – the fact that she could only see him as little more than a silhouette, perhaps, but she accepted that it might be genuine anger, considering her question.

The two of them had been separated from the others by a group of fiends that had surprised them from one of the craters scattered across the landscape. Yuna had no doubt that she and Auron could find their friends, at least after the rain stopped, but she had been waiting for a good opportunity to confront him, and she did not expect another to pop up before they reached Zanarkand. Thus, after they had found shelter in the cave, after they had defeated the fiends that had pursued them there, after the rain had intensified, she had asked the question: "Sir Auron, did you love my father?"

That he did not answer immediately made her queasy. What was he saying to himself inside his head? What was he debating? He had done nothing more than sit down, as if meditating, but his gaze did not waver from her, and that was when she realized that her long-held curiosity might have awakened his temper. Her mother had told her, in the past, that the one person in the world whose anger she needed to fear was the person who was slowest to anger, and Auron fit that description. But she did not waver, did not follow up her question, merely waited. Why fear a person she had long trusted?

Auron said, after a moment so long that it seemed to stretch into hours, "Yes. I did." A pause, but she did not respond. Not yet. She wished for him to say more. "On his pilgrimage, he and I were together." But was it as simple as that. She nodded, but said nothing, and she could see a spark in his eye at her unwillingness to leave it be. "I loved him more than my own life. That's why I'm here with you." He averted his gaze – unlike him to submit. "It's selfish, but it's important to me that you reach the end of this, even if it's because you're my lover's daughter, because I can't let that one thing go."

Outside, the rain intensified, but Yuna thought that the practiced neutrality of his voice betrayed a note of pain that she had never expected from him, and she said, her voice soft as she walked up to him, "I don't think there's any shame in it, Auron." It seemed right to drop the _Sir_ , at least that once. "If there's one thing that I've had to relearn through ... all of this, it's –" She took a deep breath. "– that it's all right to be human. Neither a Summoner nor a Guardian can be perfect. It's human to love, isn't it?" Was she trying to convince him ... or herself? "Especially if you know it could be lost."

"It wasn't lost," Auron said, his voice almost becoming a snarl. "I'm still here, aren't I? I am, and he's not." His composure slid back into place, locking down as the years of self-discipline reasserted themselves. "But you are, Yuna." No _Lady_ in private. He rested his hands on his knees. "And that's enough. I protected him. I'll protect you, too." Another moment of silence. He wanted to leave it at that. But Yuna put her hand on his face, and he flinched, but he put his own hand on her wrist – not to take her hand away, but to keep it there. "Human, huh?" A note of remorse there, not of simple pain.

"Yes," Yuna replied, a lump in her throat. He had offered his answer, and she had a glimpse of a hurt so deep that she could only guess at it, a hurt different from all those she encountered on a day-to-day basis in her pilgrimage. And, like those hurts, she wished to take it into herself. "What can I ... give you, Auron?" Her voice felt thick in her throat. What exactly was she asking him? And what was she feeling deep inside herself when she posed the question? The emotion did not have a name, perhaps, but she wanted his pain, even if taking it into herself meant feeling it in all of its rawness.

He was on his feet so quickly that she barely had a second to gasp in surprise, and she dropped her staff without thinking as he pinned both of her wrists against the wall, kissing her hard on the mouth – her first kiss, the taste of his mouth strong in hers. Unconsciously, she pressed her body against his, kissing him back, wordlessly telling him to give her more. She could feel him reaching for her sash, starting to unwind it from her body, and she shivered in spite of herself, in spite of a small voice in the back of her head asking if what she was doing, what she wanted to do, was right.

But he stopped, separating from her, breathing hard, his composure gone, his face full of open conflict between desire and whatever darkness lay hidden inside him. He growled, one hand clutching his chest as he turned away from her, rasping, "No. You don't know what will happen if –" If ... what? She walked up behind him, her clothes still disheveled, and lay one hand on his back. "Yuna, I –" He hugged himself, as if wanting to shiver, but unable to do so. "Don't ... tell any of the others. This is between you and me. It needs to be." She nodded. "Get dressed. We'll need to go soon."

As Auron walked out into the rain, not caring that it was falling down upon him, Yuna thought, retying her sash and straightening her dress, _I don't understand. Not yet. But I hope you let me try. Before –_ Before what? Before the end of her pilgrimage? Or before something that he alone knew, but could not tell her? Dread mixed with compassion in her heart as she picked up her staff, took a deep breath, and made to follow him in the hope of reuniting with the others. _Before you go, Auron? But where are you going?_ She might never get the chance to ask that last question, but she did not let go of it.

**END**.


End file.
